Lincolnshire Council loses judicial review on two grounds: all the chief points, links and analysis

Editorial

So the judge has agreed that Lincolnshire Council failed to do things properly on two out of the four grounds that they were challenged on. Here’s the key stuff reported in the media:

The consultation was fundamentally flawed, with a key thing being that the decision had already effectively being made. However, as campaigners in Gloucestershire discovered a year or two ago, there appears to be nothing stopping council simply consulting again, this time properly, and then doing the same thing, although in that case significant changes had to be made by the county which, saved three static libraries.

Lincolnshire failed to properly consider the alternative proposals made by GLL to run the service.

The judge did not reprove the Council with regard to the 1964 Act or over Equalities legislation.

Judge says that council “would have difficulty putting in an appeal” suggesting he was not overly impressed by their arguments on the two lost grounds.

For Lincolnshire, therefore, how things move depends on how seriously the council wants to cut the library budget and pass branches to volunteers. Every indication so far is that they are very set on this and so this may be just a temporary reprieve. However, it is in no way a waste of time or money for campaigners – for one thing, it means the Council will have to do things correctly, which is something that everyone (including the Council itself, if it thought about this properly) should want. For another, every month gained is another month closer to the looming General Election. Do the councillors there really want to close libraries months before a vote? And anything could happen after that election.

Councils should take from this, at the very least, the need to genuinely consult their public before making the decisions. This is, however, very difficult for some councils who are used to doing things their own way and are in the habit of seeing consultations as, at worse, a tick box exercise or a necessary annoyance. In their defence of course, it doesn’t help, of course, that councils are under great pressure, often with lack of time and resources to do anything else. In library circles as well, “consultations” are also often used as a thinly veiled recruitment campaign (or blackmail exercise, depending on how badly it is done) for volunteers to run the buildings the council has already effectively decided it can no longer afford to run. This, the judge appears to have agreed with today, is an unlawful way to go about things. Put simply, consult before you decideotherwise you’re not consulting lawfully and you may have to waste money by backing down or doing it all over again.

In plain language to any chief librarians reading this (hi there), the judge said make sure your council does its research and consultations properly and that it’s able to show it has. If enough someones don’t agree then there’s a strong possibility of a legal challenge and then a whole pile of unnecessary pain awaits.

Lincolnshire judicial review

“I have decided that the means by which the county council decided and reached their decision was flawed, in two respects. In respect of the consultation, and of their failure to properly deal with an application by a charitable organisation [Greenwich Leisure Limited] which already ran library service for two London boroughs, Greenwich and Woolwich. I have decided that the decision made in December last year should be quashed.” Mr Justice Collins

“Yay! We are simply over the moon. As soon as the full judgement was reached and read out, we had a bit group hug and started phoning everybody. I want to thank the people of Lincolnshire for standing with me against the council in this, we really are not to be walked over!” Simon Draper, leader of challenge

“We are, of course, disappointed with the decision. We believe that our proposals would have increased library provision in the county, while also making substantial savings, meaning taxpayers would be getting a much better deal.” He added: “Ironically, although we must consider that proposal as a community offer to take over the council’s services under the Localism Act, it could lead to the library service being put out to procurement and outsourced to a commercial organisation. We will now address the points raised by the judge and remain open-minded.” Richard Wills, executive director of Lincolnshire council.

“The council response makes it sound like they’re determined to carry on, to put their head in the sand and continue as though the highest court in the land hadn’t just called their plans ‘flawed’. The council last year again underspent its budget by £60m to put in its reserves – forget about the £2m they’re trying to save from libraries, that could fund libraries in the county for a generation. We need to invest in libraries to encourage education and employability across the county.”Phil Dilks, shadow executive minister for libraries

Breaking news: Campaigners win libraries review – Stamford Mercury. ““The council stuck their heads in the sand. They should have listened to the people of Lincolnshire and particularly the people of the Deepings. “Half of the people of the Deepings signed the petition and they still refused to listen. They should hang their heads in shame.”

#LibraryJudicialReview WIN on two counts – Save Lincolnshire Libraries. “We hope this decision will mean that people throughout Lincolnshire will continue to be able to access a properly run public library service which will continue to be run by experienced staff supported by volunteers. Who will run this service is now open to question. What came out in Court is that Greenwich Leisure is a substantial organisation with lots of ideas about how to maintain, run and improve the library service and they and others like them should now have an opportunity to properly put forward their plans. While Save Lincolnshire Libraries would have preferred the Library Service to remain with the County Council, it has become clear that they are unwilling to invest in and maintain the service now and in the future. In our view a new provider would now be the best option. … If you think our team of volunteer has done well, please donate to our legal fund, full details on how and why here: http://savelincslibraries.org.uk/donate/“

Lincolnshire – a warning for Kent County Council- CliKent. “Kent County Council will, of course, need to pay particular attention to (1) not least because as yet there has been no consultation with the public regarding the council’s plans and yet the council had recently advertised a vacancy online (now withdrawn) asking for a candidate who will “ensure the implementation and delivery of a trust model for Kent Libraries, Registration and Archives …”

Lincs library rescure could save libraries nationwide – Library Campaign. Judge agreed consultation was unlawful and that council had failed to adequately consider alternatives: “”These two tactics are among the most dangerous being employed by councils against common sense and common humanity,” … “”Time and again, The Library Campaign hears of councils carrying out skewed consultations designed to get the answer the council wants – and ignoring all opposition.”

Elected – Leon’s Library Blog. “It seems a number of reservations have been expressed regarding several areas of the review but overall there doesn’t seem to be that much opposition to the proposals from the wider membership, certainly not in the way that the name change last year generated opposition. Whether this amounts to approval of the suggested changes or just simple indifference is difficult to tell. Maybe librarians are more concerned about pay and conditions than the esoteric maneuverings of their professional body. Certainly there are a lot less of us nowadays in public libraries to be worried about Cilip’s shenanigans.” … “There are some very sensible suggestions in the review and in the main I support more of the proposals than I don’t. However, the recommendations form a single package so it seems a case of throwing the baby out with the bathwater to vote against them.”

UK local news by authority

Poole – Fears Poole council will axe valuable mobile library service used by vulnerable residents – Bournemouth Echo. “The council is to consult on withdrawing the book van, which visits elderly people in sheltered housing as well as residents in outlying parts of the borough. “The mobile library is sacrosanct,” said Dennis Blackler, chairman of Age Concern Poole. “This is deprivation for the elderly and the people who can’t get out. There will be uproar.” Currently 161 readers who are unable to visit a library borrow books from the van at sheltered housing and residential homes and 136 residents who live far from a library.” … “THE mobile library has an annual budget of £45,274 however its vehicle is due for replacement shortly at a cost of £100,000. The service employs 4.4 professional staff and 41.4 full time equivalent staff and if changes go through there could be one job at risk. “

Worcestershire – Wythall Library’s future looks to have been secured - Redditich Advertiser. “The latest national cost-per-visit figure of £1.93 for Worcestershire is lowest of any county council and considerably less than the national average of £3.36. Cabinet’s decision means that in Wythall, a charitable incorporated organisation – Wythall Together – will take on responsibility for the premises management and internal maintenance and repair. The library will continue to be run by the county council.”

This entry was posted by Ian Anstice on July 17, 2014 at 9:59 pm, and is filed under Uncategorized. Follow any responses to this post through RSS 2.0. You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.

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Since 1st April 2015: 9 libraries have been confirmed closed (Harrow, Lincolnshire, South Lanarkshire and Trafford). 3 mobile libraries confirmed closed (Enfield, Poole, Thurrock), 8 libraries have been passed to community groups (Leicestershire, Liverpool, Shropshire). 47 static and 16 mobile libraries (Central Bedfordshire, Dorset, Enfield, Fife, Herefordshire, Hertfordshire, Isle of Wight, South Ayrshire, South Lanarkshire, Staffordshire, Wiltshire) have been put under threat.
In financial year 2014/15, 260 static libraries were put under threat of closure/passing to volunteers. 9 mobile libraries under threat. Please note that the number under threat does not normally correspond with the number eventually closed. There are currently 4145 libraries in the UK. There were 4482 in 2009/10 and 4622 in 2003/4.
The complete list is on "Tally by Local Authority" page as are other changes to budgets such as cuts to hours, bookfund and staffing. CIpfa have calculated that 49 service points were lost in 2013/14, 74 were lost in 2012/13 and 201 in 2011/12.
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